Anita Sharma is a

Sattriya ''Sattriya'', or ''Sattriya Nritya'', is a major Indian classical dance. It was initially created as part of Bhaona which are performances of '' Ankiya Nat'', one-act plays, originally created by Sankardev, a 15th-16th century polymath from ...

dancer from Assam, India. She has conducted extensive research on Assamese folk culture and the Satriya dance form. In 2014, she received the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IAST: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recogni ...

for Sattriya dance.

Biography

Anita Sharma was born on 1 March 1969 in

Dibrugarh Dibrugarh () is a city in the Indian state of Assam, located 435 kms east of the state capital Dispur. It serves as the headquarters of the Dibrugarh district in Upper Assam. Dibrugarh also serves as the headquarters of the Sonowal Kach ...

, Assam. She was interested in Indian classical dance forms from her childhood. She started learning satthriya when she was only seven years old. She first trained in Sattriya dance under Roseshwar Saikia Bayan and later under Jatin Goswami. She has also trained in

Odissi dance ''Odissi'' (''ଓଡ଼ିଶୀ'') also referred to as ''Orissi'' in old literature, oldest surviving classical dance of India, is a major ancient Indian classical dance that originated in the Hindu temple, temples of Odisha – an eastern ...

under Gorima Hazarika and

Kelucharan Mohapatra Kelucharan Mohapatra (8 January 1926 – 7 April 2004) was a legendary Indian classical dancer, guru, and exponent of Odissi dance, who is credited with the revival and popularizing of this classical dance form in the 20th century. He is ...

. She has a master's degree in

Assamese literature Assamese literature is the entire corpus of poetry, novels, short stories, plays, documents and other writings in the Assamese language. It also includes the literary works in the older forms of the language during its evolution to the contempor ...

Personal life

Her husband is Samar Sharma. Her daughter Aarhie Kaushik is also a satthriya and odissi dancer.

Career

Anita, who holds a master's degree in Assamese literature from

Gauhati University Gauhati University also known as GU, is a collegiate public state university located in Guwahati, Assam, India. It was established on 26 January 1948 under the provisions of an Act enacted by the Assam Legislative Assembly and is the oldest un ...

, has conducted extensive research work on the Sattriya dance form and has used the results of her research in her dance choreography. She is an 'A' grade artist of

Doordarshan Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's State-owned enterprise, state-owned public broadcasting, public television broadcaster. Established by the Government of India on 15 September 1959, it is owned by the Ministry of Information and B ...

and is also an empanelled artist of the

Indian Council for Cultural Relations The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India, involved in India's global cultural relations, through cultural exchange with other countries and their people. It was founded on 9 April ...

. She has also written several articles on dance in the magazine 'Anunad'. Anita has performed at major dance festivals in India such as

Khajuraho Dance Festival The Khajuraho Dance Festival (''IAST:Khajuraho Nritya Samaroh''), organised by the Madhya Pradesh Kala Parishad, is a one-week festival of classical dances held annually beside the Khajuraho Group of Monuments, Khajuraho temples in Chhatarpur ...

Konark Dance Festival Konark Dance Festival is a five-day dance festival held every year in the month of December mostly from 1 to 5 in backdrop of the Sun temple in Konark, Odisha in India. It is one of the biggest dance festivals held in Odisha. The exquisite 'Sal ...

Delhi International Arts Festival The Delhi International Arts Festival is an annual arts festival which takes place in Delhi, India. It presents artistic performances from around the world. History The Delhi International Arts Festival was founded in 2007 as a private-public part ...

, Indian Dance Festival, and Bhagyachandra National Festival of Classical Dance, and has also performed in various parts of the country under the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English language, English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. It is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Culture (India) ...

. She has also performed various venues outside India through the

, including the Sydney Dance Festival and the Erasing Borders & Drive East Festival in New York. Anita is the founding director of Abhinaya Dance Academy in

Guwahati Guwahati () the largest city of the Indian state of Assam, and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...

, where she provides training in Sattriya dance and organizes 'Parampara Dance and Music Festival' every year. In 2010, Anita and her husband Samad started Parampara Festival.

Research

Anita was awarded a two-year Junior Fellowship by the

Ministry of Human Resource Development Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

, Department of Culture, Government of India, to conduct research on the topic "Different Forms of Folk Elements of Assam in Sattriya Dance". She also conducted research on "

Ojapali Ojapali is a traditional shamanistic type of indigenous folk dance from Assam in the northeastern region of India. Ojapali is believed to have evolved from Kathakata tradition and is performed in a group; it is believed to be one of the oldest ...

", a unique cultural tradition of Assam, under the Sattriya Kendra of the

Awards and honors

In 2012, Anitha was honoured by giving ''Nrutya Vidushi'' title, during the International Dance Congress in Bhubaneswar. In 2013, she received the Devdasi Award instituted by Devadasi National Dance Festival Committee, Bhubaneshwar. In 2014, Anita Sharma received the

for Sattriya dance. She received the Pankaj Charan Odyssey Research Foundation's Mahari Award in 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharma, Anitha 1969 births Living people 21st-century Indian dancers 21st-century Indian women Dancers from Assam Gauhati University alumni Indian female classical dancers Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sattriya exponents